Reinventing the olde towne crier | Thoughts from Behind the Pressline

The US Economy and workplace were changed forever, as a result of the Great Recession, according to a recent poll taken by the John H. Center of Workforce Development at Rutgers.

Change and the pace of change are facts of life that must always be factored in to every institution. No one or anything is immune to change. The key is recognizing and accepting the simple fact that we must all adapt to change and that you do not allow yourself or your institution to remain stagnant or allow negativity to pull you down.

In this recent survey only 16 percent thought employment and opportunities will be better for the next generation. That compared with 56 percent who thought so in a July 1999 survey. One-third of the respondents said their standards of living were unscathed by the recent recession. Another one-third said they had been temporarily “troubled” or “set back” by the economic downturn. The rest characterized their situations as permanently “devastated” or “downsized.”

When asked to check words and phrases that described the “typical American worker,” a whopping 70 percent checked “not secure in their jobs,” and 68 percent checked “highly stressed.” The phrases checked next most often were “takes pride in work” by 45 percent and “productive” by 43 percent. People tend to be easily swayed by popular opinion and that’s not always the best especially when the focus is trending negative.

It’s far to easy when the going is tough to allow negativity to alter your attitude. As an example, from a community newspaper workforce perspective, our institution has been undergoing great change from the discussions that newspapers are a dying institution. Let me assure you newspapers are no more dying than the trees which will shortly start losing their leaves, immediately after their bright colors light up the region.

Dan Alexander is associate publisher of New Market Press and publisher and CEO of Denton Publications. He may be reached at dan@newmarketpressvt.com or dan@denpubs.com.